Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, bought a 200-year-old condom set and engraved three men with erect and semi-naked nuns on it. She pointed to one of the penis and the title read: “Look, Monday Joyce” (“That’s my choice”).
The object is added to the museum’s collection, including Rembrandt’s masterpieces, including Watch at night (1642).
Early birth control pills dating back to 1830 were made from the appendix of sheep. This is the stunning exhibition in the museum’s new “Safety?” that lasts until November and features Dutch and French prints and drawings detailing the work and sexual health of the 19th century.
Buyed late last year at an auction in Haarlem, northwest Netherlands for $1,000, the condom is being displayed in a glass box. “In an era, people’s pursuit of sensory pleasure is filled with fear of unnecessary pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, especially syphilis,” the museum said in a statement.
It is not clear which penis the nun points to. They belong to a bald man, a thin man, and a more rounded man. “That way, any type of man will talk to it,” Rijksmuseum curator Joyce Zelen told guardian. She said the etching harshly suggests the Greek myth of Paris, where the Trojan prince was asked to choose which of the three most seductive goddesses. “So we believe that people who have obtained condoms will be quite complex and well-educated,” Zelen added.
Prior to the invention of vulcanized rubber in 1839, basic condoms were made from materials such as flax, turtle shells and animal films. They are uncomfortable and not particularly effective. “In the 1830s, when this condom was made, the use of condoms was still frown, especially churches,” Zelen said. “Although some luxury stores offer reports of custom tailors, they are mostly sold under the counters of brothels or barbershops.”
Zelen, who is 20 cm in length, added that she doesn’t believe she has used condoms after analyzing them under UV light. She added that it could be a souvenir from an upscale French brothel in Paris.
A condom from the 1800s sold for nearly $14,000 at a French auction in 2011, while another condom made from the pig’s bladder was sold for $2,275 from 1830.
